Marinara Dipping Sauce
This homemade marina dipping sauce only uses a few simple ingredients and only takes minutes to prepare! It is simmered to perfection and pairs perfectly with breadsticks, mozzarella sticks, garlic bread, or pizza crust.
Dipping Sauce vs Pasta Sauce
The main difference between a marinara dipping sauce and a marinara pasta sauce is that dipping sauce is thicker. Pasta marinara sauce tends to be more watery and the tomatoes aren’t as blended. However, they can be used interchangeably depending on your taste.
Marinara Dipping Sauce Ingredients
The ingredients to make homemade marinara dipping sauce are simple. You can make it as fancy or as simple as you would like. The easiest thing to do is to just use what you have on hand. Here are the basics:
Tomatoes
These can be fresh tomatoes from the garden or canned from the store. If using canned tomatoes, the best quality is D.O.P. tomatoes from Italy. We wrote an entire post on D.O.P. tomatoes from Italy so you can see why the quality is better. We like to use whole, canned tomatoes for this recipe. You can also use crushed tomatoes. We don’t recommend using tomato sauce for this recipe since the tomatoes are too blended and may give the sauce an odd aftertaste.
Olive Oil
I like using infused olive oils when I cook Italian food. I usually reach for garlic or basil infused extra virgin olive oil. It gives the sauce more depth and adds to the rich flavors.
Onion, Garlic, and Basil
Fresh is best for all these ingredients. Always add the basil at the very end for the most fresh flavor.
Salt
Sea salt complements tomato dishes beautifully. Use enough to cut the acidic taste of the tomatoes. Add salt throughout the process and taste often until you get the flavors just right. Kosher salt or Himalayan sea salt will work fine too.
Serving Hot vs Cold
What’s great about homemade marinara sauce is that it can be served hot or cold. It completely comes down to what your preference is. Many people like to serve it hot if the dish itself is hot so the sauce doesn’t cool down the food before biting into it. Sometimes mozzarella sticks come out piping hot and you may prefer that the sauce is on the cooler side to cool off that first bite. Personally, I like my marinara dip at room temperature or slightly warmer. I think that is the perfect temperature to bring out the true flavor of the tomatoes without cooling down your food too much.
Make it Thicker
The beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can make it as thick as you would like and it doesn’t take any extra ingredients. All you have to do is simmer it down until it reaches the thickness you like. That’s all it takes. Just more simmering time. Some suggest adding tomato paste to thicken instead but in my opinion the flavor is better when simmered down.
Make it a Cheesy Dip
Add a little cheesy pizzazz to your dip by placing it in a shallow oven-safe dish and adding a few pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese over the top. Bake at 400-degrees F for 6-8 minutes or until cheese has melted. This kind of dip is best for baguette slices, crackers, chips, or vegetables.
What to Serve with Marinara Dipping Sauce
breadsticksmozzarella sticks (homemade or store bought)garlic breadbaguette slicespizza (for dipping crust)grilled cheese sandwichesfried or baked zucchini chipsfried ravioli or tortellini appetizer meatballs meatball subsgrilled or roasted vegetables
How to Store Leftover Sauce
Store leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. You can also freeze marinara sauce for up to 6 months. You can also re-purpose your dipping sauce by using it as a pizza sauce, pasta sauce, or as a tomato based thickener to Italian soups.
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How to Make Marinara Dipping Sauce
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